"Art is like life, it shouldn't be taken seriously."
A sculptor who resists classification, François-Xavier Lalanne always intends to give sculpture a function. Astonishment, amusement, poetry borrowed from surrealism and guided by wordplay, forms, and materials are all born of his often hybrid works. His work takes many forms, ranging from monumental sculptures to everyday objects. Nature, especially the animal world, offers an endless source of reference familiar to all. Sheep, monkeys, rhinos, donkeys, camels, toads, hippos, and cats form a menagerie that Lalanne subjects to the constraints of decorative art with great humor. Animals and plants thus enter the world of humans, a surreal world where things are no longer surprising, and dreams and imagination have free rein.